Cable or electric street-railway



(No Model.)

L. LEM

G OR EL ENT & G. 0. WATRISS. BGTRIG STREET RAILWAY.

Patented Aug. 27, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT I OEEIcE.

LEXVIS M. CLEMENT, OF OAKLAND, AND GEORGE C. \VATRISS,'OF SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA.

CABLE OR ELECTRIC "STREET-RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 409,926, dated August27, 1889.

Application filed December 14,1888. Serial No. 293,641. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LEWIS M. CLEMENT, of Oakland, Alameda county, Stateof California, and GEORGE C. \VATRIss, of the city and county of SanFrancisco, State of California, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Subways for Cable or Electric Street-Railways, of whichthe following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the construction of the slotted way throughwhich the shank of the grip of a cable railway or collector of anelectric railway, as the case maybe, passes in operating the road.

The invention consists in the form or shape of the irons bounding theslotted way, in combination with a form of brake which operates upon thetrack formed by the underside of one or both of the said irons, asherein more particularly set forth, the object being to provide aconvenient braking-surface while still resting the slot-irons upon andbolting them directly to the yoke-frames, so that simplicity andcheapness are maintained with greater strength, durability, andconvenience than have heretofore been acquired in structures of thisclass using an underground brake.

Heretofore when the under side of the slotirons has been used as abraking surface ordinary channel-irons form ed the slotted way, theirwebs being parallel both vertically and horizontally, leaving a spacebetween said webs just the width of the slot and no more. This formentailed an expensive and inconvenient method of connection betweenthese slot-irons and the yoke-frames, and no bolts could be safely putthrough the vertical webs, because, as they are always liable to getloose, they might easily encroach upon the path of the grip-shank andcause a disastrous break age should this shank strike them. Besides thisobjection, even if the bolts could be safely used in the vertical webs,there was no way to put them in their holes after the two slot-ironswere in place, the slot through which at least the bolts for 01w sidemust pass being less than an inch in width; hence, it fol lowed that thefastening-bolts had to be put through the upper and lower flanges of theslot-irons.

Another shape of slot-irons capable of be ing used with a sub-surfacebrake has been applied in practice. It may be called the reversed-Zshape,wherein the web drops from the outer instead of the inner edge ofthe surface fianges perpendicularly, the lower flanges extending stillfarther outward, leaving an unobstructed space between the verticalwebs. The objection to this form is that it is not adapted to be restedsolidly upon the yokeframes if the sub-surface brake is used, but mustrely upon its fastening-bolts for its support, while the furtherobjection exists that the brakingsurface is too far removed from thecenter line of the grip or brake handle.

The present form of slot-irons is designed to remove the objectionswhich have in a large measure prevented the more general adoption of thesubsurface brake herein referred to, while offering the importantadvantage of simplifying and cheapening the structure.

111 the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, thefigure is a transverse sectional elevation of a subway, a part beingbroken away, which amply illustrates all there is involved in theinvention.

A is an edge view of a combined grip and brake of any suitable form.

B is the brake-block, which is moved up and down by the same lever whichopens and closes the grip-jaws (.4 upon the cable 0.

D is oneof the cable-carrying sheaves.

E E are the side members of the yokeframe; F, the transverse tie forminga part of the yoke-frame, broken away at each end; G, the transversebraces of the yoke-frame; H H, the supports for the bearings I I of thesheave-spindles. r

J is a broken-away part of the concrete bed of the subway, and K is aportion of the streetsurface paving.

The above parts are as in ordinary use, therefore an elaboratedescription willbe unnecessary.

L L are the slot-irons, which, in combination with a sub-surface brake,constitute the invention. The upper flanges -Z Z of both the opposingirons extend from the edge of the slot M two or three inches outwardfrom the slot. From the edge next to the slot the webs m of the ironsextend downward four or five IOO inches, (more or less,) at an angleparallel with that of the side members of the yoke-frame, as shown inthe drawing. The slot-iron on the side where the brake-block is locatedis provided with a return-flange Z", extending from the lower edge ofthe web to as far inward as may be necessary to give a goodbearing-surface for the brake-block, generally about two and a halfinches.

The opposing slot-iron, if there be no brakeblock on that side, need nothave a return flange. On the contrary, it is better it should not haveone, for then there will be ample room to insert the fastening-bolts Nin their places. Otherwiseit would be difficult to pass these boltsthrough the space which might be left between the edges of the opposingflanges.

The fastening-bolts N N pass through the webs of the slot-irons and theside members of the yoke-frames. They should have countersunk heads,for, as they are liable to jar loose, the heads should be as far awayfrom the path of the grip-shank as possible. The upper flanges of theslot-irons rest upon the ends of the side members of the yoke-frame,receiving a very thorough support therefrom.

When the subway is for an electric road, the brake may be an entirelyseparate piece of mechanism from the collector.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is as follows:

The herein-described slot-iron L for street railways having subways tocarry the actuating mechanism, consisting, essentially, of an uppersurface flange Z, bottom flange Z and a web m, passing diagonally fromthe inner edge of the upper flange to the outer edge of the lowerflange, as and for the purposes set forth.

LEWIS M. CLEMENT. GEO. C. VVATRISS. Witnesses:

GEORGE PARDY, FRANK MILLER.

